Fresno neighborhood evacuated after parents discover child playing with pipe bombs

A pair of pipe bombs were discovered in a central Fresno neighborhood after parents found their child playing with the devices in an alley Thursday night.

Parents called for help around 8:30 p.m.

Fresno Police arrived in the neighborhood near East Normal and North Thesta avenues and found two foot-long, possibly galvanized fuel steel pipes that were capped and filled with black powder and an apparent fuse coming out of the pipe, according to Lt. Israel Reyes.

“We could’ve had a lot of people injured today,” Reyes said.

The Fresno Police bomb squad was called as residents in nearby homes were told to evacuate and clear out of the area.

Bomb squad technicians eventually “rendered the devices here safely instead of transferring it to another location,” Reyes said.

The bomb squad discovered the pipes full of black powder, which Reyes said had the potential to explode at any given moment had it been detonated.

“It could’ve been anything as simple as the children taking off the end caps, causing a friction or spark in detonating the black powder,” Reyes said. “We’re very fortunate these children weren’t injured by these pipes or they didn’t go off in the neighborhood.”

Fresno Police were examining the pipe bombs further, hoping to find finger prints or DNA on the devices.

Police believe the child was playing with the pipe bombs that had been left behind by someone else.

It’s unclear, however, if the pipe bombs were intentionally left in the central Fresno neighborhood with plans to go off.

Reyes said it also was possible that the person who originally had the pipe bombs might’ve been trying to get rid of the devices by leaving it in a neighborhood where a major cleanup was scheduled to come. The neighborhood is located about a mile east of Fresno City College’s Ratcliffe Stadium.

“These (were) purposely made,” Reyes said. “Somebody took the time to stuff them with black powder, cap them and fuse them on each end.

“Whoever did this,” Reyes added, “disposed of them here for whatever reason.”

A pipe bomb, considered powerful and potentially deadly when detonated, is a bomb encased in a pipe with explosive material put into the pipe, then sealed on each end with steel or brass caps.

On Tuesday in the state of Washington, a man lost an arm and a 6-year-old girl sustained head injuries after handmade pipe bombs exploded.

This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 12:29 AM.